Navsari residents were surprised to see a man dressed in a dhoti and a vest, wearing spectacles and walking with a stick accompanied by supporters. The picture of the Father of the Nation, M K Gandhi!
He is Naishadh Desai, the Congress’ candidate in the Navsari Lok Sabha constituency, and this is his way of drawing voters’ attention as he doesn’t have sufficient funds for his poll campaign.
Desai is competing against BJP’s C R Paatil in the polls in Gujarat on Tuesday. The BJP’s Gujarat unit chief Paatil’s victory margin of 6.9 lakh votes was the highest in the country in 2019.
Changed appearance
Desai, 68, changed his appearance after his candidature was announced. He shaved his head and started wearing a dhoti like Gandhiji and started using a big stick while walking.
He is currently undertaking padyatras like Gandhiji did. Desai said the Mahatma is his icon and he started dressing like him in the hope of awakening the public conscience. “I want to awaken people’s conscience for values such as freedom and equality in these troubled times,” he says.
A trade union leader and former Congress spokesperson, Desai said he is working to keep the Mahatma’s legacy alive. Gandhiji’s Salt Satyagraha shook the foundations of the British Empire as he aspired for freedom and equality. “I am walking on his path for the same values,” said Desai.
No money power
He admits that he doesn’t have “money power” and has to attract the attention of voters in Navsari which is a BJP bastion like the 25 other seats in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s home state.
Accompanied by 200-300 Congress workers, Desai’s campaign begins with padyatras every day. He visits various areas in Navsari in the scorching heat to meet voters. His khadi clothes protect him from the heat, he says.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the Sabarmati Ashram (in Ahmedabad) and Rajghat in Delhi but his followers abuse Gandhiji day in and day out,” alleged Desai.
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